


Work So Hard

by Siobhan_Daley



Series: The Life of One Dr. Nilam Houbima [2]
Category: The Arcana (Visual Novel)
Genre: AMAB Asra, Anal Sex, Attention-Hungry Asra, Breakfast in Bed, Demanding Asra, Dirty Talk, Dom/sub Undertones, Dominant Asra, Established Relationship, Feeding, Forcing an Unhealthy Workaholic to Take Care of Himself and Somehow it’s Not Julian, M/M, Multiple Orgasms, Naked Cuddling, Oral Sex, Overstimulation, Riding, Running on a primarily theoretical knowledge and I'll have it stay that way thank you very much Sir, Seduction, Seduction Plot, Switching, Window Sex, distraction sex, messy sex, mild exhibitionism, momentary angst, naked cooking, slightly rough sex, underweight character, unhealthy character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-03
Updated: 2020-09-03
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:40:26
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26275012
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Siobhan_Daley/pseuds/Siobhan_Daley
Summary: Nilam has always been a stupidly hard worker, prone to working so hard he would forget to go to bed. Since signing on to help his new friend research the Red Plague, it seems like he's always cooped up in his study. It's been weeks since Asra fell asleep beside him.Concerned for his health and in desperate need of a bit of affection, Asra hatches a penny-dreadful plot to seduce his lover into putting his work down in favor of something everyone will find far, far more enjoyable.
Relationships: Apprentice/Asra (The Arcana), Asra (The Arcana)/Original Character(s), Asra (The Arcana)/Original Male Character(s)
Series: The Life of One Dr. Nilam Houbima [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1929646
Comments: 1
Kudos: 32





	Work So Hard

**Author's Note:**

> Being Ace, I'm not completely sure how this came out of my brain. Oh well. Ace author doesn't equal Ace characters. Have fun.

He’d been at this for weeks now. The floorboards below creaked well into the wee hours of the morning, Nilam pacing about down below doing who knows what in the name of his research. Asra laid in their shared bed, though it seemed like ages since they had actually lain there together. He ran his fingers through Nilam’s side of the sheets, for once wishing he’d put the books aside. 

It wasn’t just because Asra wanted his attention, or because he wanted to snuggle with Nilam while they listened to the night birds, or because he missed falling asleep to the sound of his heartbeat and the smell of his hair. He was growing thin. He needed rest. He needed to do something other than dwell in the depths of Death and Plague. His hip bones didn’t stick out like that a year ago.

An idea pops into his head and part of him questions the sanity of it. The idiot was always too engrossed in his research to let himself be talked into bed. In any sense. Besides, as he himself had once said…

_Who needs words?_

He threw the light summer blankets aside and padded up to the wardrobe. Pajamas might work for what he had in mind - Nilam always said Asra could look sexy in a burlap sack - but he had higher standards than that. If he was about to hatch a plot to seduce his personal workaholic, simple PJ’s will just not do.

He fished out a loose white shirt and a scrap of raspberry silk. It wasn’t strictly speaking necessary, as he could simply waltz downstairs completely nude and probably get things to work, but a career in fortune telling had left him with a bit of a showmanship streak, and he knew the importance of projecting the right aura - the right _image_. Normally, he would project the image of the all-knowing magician, mysterious and wise. But tonight…

Tonight he would become a succubus.

He stripped off his pajama pants and tossed them aside. In their place, he slid on the silk underwear, arguably his favorite piece of lingerie that he owned. It absolutely screamed ‘fuckable,’ just like he wanted. He draped the shirt over his shoulders, leaving the front unbuttoned and letting everything else hang free. He checked himself out in the mirror and gave himself a twirl. Oh yes. This would do the trick.

He flopped on the bed and ran through the plan in his head. Shuddering tingles rippled down Asra’s spine as he envisioned the sorts of things he wanted, recalling midnights long past where one or both of them would be howling like forest wolves. Absently, he traced down his hip bone and drew little patterns along the waistband of his pretty smallclothes. He remembered a time when they were young and inexperienced and Nilam had Asra rutting into the palm of his hand like an animal, smiling as he felt dick begin to twitch awake to the thought of doing that to Nilam. Ever so lightly, he palmed himself, just enough to get him firm - He didn’t need to be at full mast right away, just hard enough to make it clear what Asra was there for.

He checked himself in the mirror once more before he went down and made a few last-second tweaks, mussing up his hair and shifting the shirt to sit askew and slip from his shoulders. If this didn’t work, it wasn’t just the research keeping Nilam out of Asra’s bed, that’s for sure.

Slinking down the stairs, he swayed his hips with each step and pondered how to begin his little game. Coy and playful? Blunt and to-the-point? Desperate and lecherous and beyond starved to madness with lust? He shuddered with delight at the latter. He was definitely feeling that one. He’d have to see what sort of mood his Lovely was in.

The soft glow of candlelight spilled out of the study, the door left hanging open. Once upon a time this room had been used for storage and whatnot. Back then it always smelled strongly of herbs, though the exact mix changed by the day depending on what medicines Nilam had on the drying racks. Now it smelled of incense and candlesoot, and occasionally other things if Nilam was studying something rather odiferous.

Tonight, he stood over the table in the center of the room with his back to the door, poring over some huge yellowed tome. Apparently tired of sitting, he’d turned his chair around with its back against the edge of the table and rested a knee on the cushioned seat. His coat lay forgotten on the desk in the corner and the various candles around the room had burned quite low, several candlesticks covered in tallow. The little flames wouldn’t survive much longer.

Asra took advantage of Nilam’s obliviousness and quietly posed, stretching one arm up the doorframe and the other draped over his dramatically cocked-out hip. “It’s late, Loveling,” he drawled, “Won’t you come to bed?”

“I will soon, don’t worry,” Nilam waved dismissively over his shoulder, “Just got a little more to do tonight. Don’t wait up for me.” Asra rolled his eyes. Last time he said that, he didn’t come to bed until eight o’clock the next morning.

He tried again, with a hint of a whine, “Come on Nilam, come upstairs with me. I promise I’m much better company than that dusty old book.”

Nilam chuckled, “Oh, you most definitely are.” His raised leg dropped from the chair back to the floor and he started to turn. “As much as I want t-” He finally set his sights on Asra and froze, his big green eyes going wide and his translucent skin starting to turn an astonishing shade of red. The breath was snatched from his lungs in a quivering whisper. “ _Oh…_ ”

Asra crossed the room in three quick strides. He seized Nilam’s face and smashed their mouths together, callously shoving him back into the abandoned chair and greedily devouring the startled moan he ripped from Nilam’s throat. He landed in his lap and Nilam dug his fingers into Asra’s buttocks, kneading and squeezing as he moved above him.

He melted even easier than Asra thought he would, like chocolate in the summer sun. His pale skin blazed beneath Asra’s fingers as he pressed and scraped wandering trails into tender flesh.

Nilam’s eyes fluttered open, bewildered and hazy. His chest heaved against Asra’s as they caught their breath. A thin string of saliva glistened between their tongues for a moment before it snapped. “What’re you…? Asr-” He groaned loudly into Asra’s open mouth as he crushed their lips together and ground his hips hard against Nilam’s.

“Whaddas it- Look like I’m doing?” He gasped between messy kisses and ground down harder.

“Asra…” Nilam groaned and his head fell over the back of the chair, eyes shut and mouth open. “But I… ‘ve work t’do…”

Asra seized Nilam’s head between his hands, threading his fingers through his dark hair and tugging. “Screw the books,” Asra breathed as he mouthed at the soft skin under his jaw, “Fuck me instead.”

A low drone sounded deep in Nilam’s chest, rattling Asra’s bones as he ground their clothed, hard cocks together. “But I-” Asra pulled Nilam’s hair sharply and got a delicious warbling gasp. 

“I _said_ I want you to _FUCK ME, Nilam._ ”

Nilam clutched Asra close and bucked up, surrendering to Asra and the burning desire to bury himself in him. 

Carefully untangling himself from Nilam’s lap, Asra pulled Nilam up from his chair, their mouths not separating for even a second. 

One moment, he was leading Nilam out of the study, the next there was a thud and a jolt, and his back was pressed against the rough wall, and his wrists were pinned at either side of his head and hungry teeth abused his neck and he forgot how to breath in the best way. He wrapped a leg over Nilam’s hip and pulled them closer together, rolling and rubbing and writhing against him.

Asra wiggled his wrists free and led his lover out of the study, guiding him to the stairs - at least that was the plan. They stumbled blindly into walls and tables and benches, groping and groaning and giggling, oblivious to their surroundings. Asra felt cheeky and Nilam’s breath hitched as Asra seized his cock through his trousers and used that to lead him up to the bedroom.

They burst through the door and Nilam shoved Asra onto the bed, kissing hard and messy and thrusting into Asra’s palm. He undid the fly and helped Nilam shuffle the stupid thing off and - _FUCK_ that felt even better. Separated only by their smallclothes, they rutted with renewed enthusiasm. With a rumbling groan, Nilam dragged his cock along Asra’s, long and hard. Asra responded in kind as his eyes rolled back and shut and his head pressed into the covers. “Aaah, _fuck YES_.” Part of him wanted to cum right there. He almost could. Gods, when was the last time they had sex?

Suddenly Nilam was the one gazing breathlessly up at Asra, sitting proudly above him as they stilled and caught their breath. Asra smiled down at him, admiring the flush of bright mulberry red against his pale skin. He traced a thumb along the full curve of Nilam’s glistening lip. Nilam let his eyes slip shut and he pressed tender pecks into whatever part of Asra’s hand passed by.

“You wanna touch me?” Asra breathed and teasingly guided Nilam’s hand up his soft inner thigh, up the crease where it meets his hip and white little curls rasped against the pads of Nilam’s fingers. Nilam groaned low in appreciation as he nodded. Fingertips brushed so lightly against Asra’s base and he shuddered. “Want me to touch you?” He let Nilam’s hands roam as they willed and ran his own up Nilam’s flat belly, playing a little with the spattering of coarse dark curls trailing up to his navel. 

He struggled not to pause too long at his ribs. They’d always poked out a little in the front, but Nilam used to be soft. There’d only ever been a small bump on either side of his sternum, but now there was a proper ledge along his entire ribcage, and individual bones showed through all the way up to his chest. _He’s even thinner than I realized,_ he thought with a tear in his mind’s eye as he traced the ledge. _He shouldn’t be this skinny._

Asra leaned down and pressed a kiss to the hollow of his throat. His collarbone, at least, _had_ always been rather sharp. He pressed another kiss to his sternum, his solar plexus, down the middle of his abdomen, to the spot where the too-clear ridge of his hip dipped under his smallclothes, gently squeezing and kneading every patch of flesh as he trailed along. Nilam threaded a hand through Asra’s hair, simply resting there, along for the ride.

“Want me to fuck you with my mouth?” Asra asked, airy and sultry. His lips curled up against Nilam’s skin as he let out a groaning whimper. The mask-like flush of arousal spread up to his ears and down his neck. Poor Nilam. He could never hide his embarrassment. Asra kept sucking and worrying the delicate skin between his teeth. Nilam whispered his name and weakly tugged at Asra’s soft hair, urging him on. “Well? Don’t you want me to suck your cock? Let you cum down my throat? Hmm?”

Nilam made a strangled noise as Asra palmed him lightly through his smallclothes and he tried to remember words. “Yes!” he cried, “Fuck, Asra, _please yes_.”

He acquiesced and pulled Nilam’s smallclothes to his knees, letting him kick them the rest of the way free. While he was at it, he might as well remove his too. 

Nilam howled as Asra gripped him and gave him a few firm strokes. He pressed his tongue flat and dragged it from root to tip, teasing the opening with the deftly pointed tip of his tongue. Asra heard a deep gasp and Nilam’s whole body jerked. His hands tightened of their own accord, pulling Asra into his groin and bucking against Asra’s face as his control slipped away. “Sorry,” he panted, “ _Uuungh, Asraa…_ ”

He sealed his lips against the base of Nilam’s cock, moaning and eyes rolling back. _Fuck, I could eat him alive when he does that_ , he thought as he suckled back up to the head. _Hell, I will._

Nilam was a quiet lover. To make him sing curses and howl praises to the gods always made Asra’s belly burn with want and his cock twitch. He sat up on his knees, balancing with a hand on Nilam’s hip while he sucked on his shouting lover’s cock, stroking his own with musical moans. Several times that electric tingle crept on him, forcing him to tear his hand away.

“Asra… Asra, I… so close!”

Asra pulled back just enough to take a few breaths and mumble, “Cum for me, Nilam. Let me drink from your cock.” He sunk quickly back down until his nose was nestled deep into the black hair at the root. A high, whimpering shout accompanied the sharp jerk of his hips and the stream of thick warmth Asra eagerly gulped down. He gave a final firm suck for good measure and let it slide out of his throat. 

Asra slinks up to kiss Nilam, open-mouthed, sloppy, gasping for breath. He sprawled atop his lover and let their limbs entangle.

One hand snaked down Asra’s back, the other running through his hair, gently twisting his curls. “You didn’t finish,” Nilam noted Asra’s unspent erection pressing into his belly, “Y… Do you still wanna..?” The kissing ceased as they murmured against each other’s lips.

“If you can go another round.” Asra gently sucked on Nilam’s lower lip.

“In a few minutes, I think so. How do you want me?”

Asra kissed him more while he thought. It would be quicker to list the ways he _doesn’t_ want him.

A nearby clock tower rang the late hour. A wicked thought crept into his mind. He trailed sweet kisses down Nilam’s jaw to where it joins his neck, just below his ear. “Fuck me against the window.”

“I… Oh.” Nilam’s eyes widened. Only a narrow sliver of olive peeked out between the black outer ring and massive pupil. 

Asra slammed into the wall with a grunt and was immediately set upon by a hungry mouth. That was the second time tonight Nilam had accosted him that way. He should do it more often. “And here I thought you wanted to do the fucking tonight.”

Asra sighed and closed his eyes. He wrapped his limber legs around Nilam’s waist and rubs against his re-hardening cock. “I just want you,” he whined, “You work so hard all the time,” Asra arched into Nilam while he bit at his neck, “Sometimes I think you’ve forgotten about me.”

Nilam rose up to kiss him on the mouth. “‘M sorry,” he mumbled into the kiss, “Get carried away. So much to do. ‘M always thinking ‘bout you.”

“I miss you.”

“‘M sorry,” he apologized again. “I love you.”

Asra pulled him flush against him for a bruising kiss. “I love you. I love you,” he professed each time they came close to parting.

Nilam eventually pulled away. Asra tried to follow, eyes slowly fluttering open when nothing came. His lover smiled drunkenly at him, his eyes hazy and droopy. “Put your hands on the window frame.”

Asra’s feet dropped to the floor and Nilam turned away to rummage through the bedside table. Asra pressed his palms to the cool, colorful glass just above his head. He snuck a peek over his shoulder, and he didn’t regret it in the least.

Nilam lounged on his side as he searched the drawer. One foot hung lazily off the edge of the bed as he stretched across, and his other leg was propped up in an excellent manner for displaying his _other_ other leg. He spotted Asra ogling and cocked his hips with a flirtatious smirk. Asra tilted his head down coyly and shifted his heels a little further apart, arching his back just a little to display his own assets.

With a triumphant shout, Nilam retrieved a glass bottle of clear yellowish oil. He shuffled back across the bed, unstoppering the bottle and tipping a few drops onto his fingers. He set the bottle on the sill and grabbed a golden ass cheek in each hand, growling hungrily. He kneaded the warm, soft flesh and earned a delighted moan, his hands strong from years working with a mortar and pestle. Asra twisted his head over his shoulder, keeping one hand on the window while the other reached back to pull Nilam into another lip-lock. Long, fine black hair coiled around his fingers and Nilam dragged himself along the cleft of Asra’s magnificent, _beautiful_ ass.

“Give it to me, Nilam,” he demanded breathily, grinding back hard on his lover, “I want your cock so bad. Come on baby, stick your cock in my ass.” 

He dug his nails into one glistening cheek and reached for the oil bottle, liberally drizzling it on his aching erection, dripping down onto Asra. He sighed in relief as he gave himself a few strokes to coat himself. Nilam slid his head down and prodded at the hole he so desperately wanted to fuck into oblivion. “Sure you’re ready? Still so tight…”

“Fuck me, Nilam, _please!_ ”

He needed no more instructions. With a rough shove, the first couple inches pushed in. Their noises harmonized, Nilam’s low rumble sounding so good with Asra’s high, airy cry. He thrusted in slow, inch by inch, hands on Asra’s hips guiding them all the way down to his base. 

Asra’s forehead fell against the glass, and suddenly he remembered there was a window there. He’d _asked Nilam_ to _fuck him_ against the _window_ . Anyone could walk down below. Anyone look up and see them, see _him_ , pinned naked to the glass, getting utterly ravaged from behind like a whore.

He crept his hands further up the window, trying to shift the angle a little. Nilam’s thrusting grew quicker as Asra relaxed and grew slick with oil. His hands roamed Asra’s front, pressing and squeezing and kneading anything he could touch. “Fuck, you feel so good,” he swore under his breathe and kissed up Asra’s sloping spine. He opened his mouth to reply, but only mewling cries tumbled out.

Nilam yanked Asra’s legs back and pressed on his back, forcing him to stand on his toes and press his gleaming chest into the window. The angle of his back _almost_ hurt, but _FUUCK_ it felt so good getting pounded like this. Nilam beat at his prostate, finding his mark over and over again until the night sky seemed to be accruing new stars.

“I’m gonna cum,” he gasped, eyes rolling back, “I’m gonna cum… Nilam, _oooh_ , I- AH!”

Nilam reached around and stroked Asra until he broke, every muscle contracting as spurts of white landed on the window panes.

“FUCK!” The tight heat almost burned as Asra constricted around Nilam. “So good, so good…” he threw his hips hard, thrusting a few more times before spending himself inside his screaming Asra.

They stayed there for a moment catching their breath. Once his lungs cooled, Nilam pulled out and roughly spun Asra around into a torrid embrace. His knees shook and Asra wobbled precariously in a just-fucked daze, but as their mouths tangled once again, their desperate hunger hadn’t diminished in the least.

They shuffled around aimlessly, figuring they’ll wind up somewhere serviceable sooner or later. Nilam went tumbling backwards onto the bed, pulling Asra down with him. 

Asra wasted no time climbing on top and devouring Nilam’s every breath. He clutched his lover’s face as they rutted senselessly against each other. He didn’t want to wait. He took hold of Nilam’s mostly-hard cock and lined it up with his leaking hole, sinking all the way down on him in two strokes.

Nilam held fast to Asra’s thighs, hypnotized by the graceful gyrations of the beautiful creature fucking himself silly on his cock. He plunged down, down, touching his body and singing his name. A sconce lit up his white hair in a warm halo. In that moment, he was sure he was gazing into the face of Heaven itself.

He looked resplendent like this; red-faced, open-mouthed panting, chest heaving, heavy eyelids constantly slipping, body sticky with sweat and oil, gleaming as he danced himself away. 

“ _You’re so beautiful._ ”

His angel’s eyes cracked open, deep gleaming amethyst, even in the dim light. He gazed down at the mortal he’d ensnared, clinging to his hips as they swayed like the tide. He stared back, his green eyes heavy and hazy. An airy smile pulled at Asra’s throbbing lips. “ _Touch me, Nilam._ ” The command came with touches light as spun sugar, and Asra guided strong, slender hands up his body as it flexed and rocked. “Mm… Feel how I move for you… Gods, you look so fucking hot like tha- _OH!_ Fuck, baby, you make be feel so good. Nilam… _Nilam! Yes!_ ” Asra’s head fell back and his ramblings melted into high, senseless wails.

Nilam’s eyes rolled back and slid shut as Asra speared himself harder on Nilam’s cock. Every nerve seemed to hum and crackle. He burned and gasped for air. “Asra… _Asra…_ ” He chanted the sounds like they were life itself. Asra leaned back with his hands atop Nilam’s thighs and threw his hips down with all the force he could muster, sobbing in ecstasy as he pummelled his prostate again and again and again and again and _oh gods!-_

It hit him so suddenly, the kind of orgasm you’re expecting but not yet, that hits you like a whip and snatches the air from your lungs in a shrill cry and your insides clench so hard it hurts but it keeps pulling you and pulling you along even though you can’t breathe and you’re drowning in how _good_ it feels.

Nilam watched Asra unravel, utterly enraptured as he screamed in bliss and spilled across Nilam’s pale skin. With a strangled shout, he followed and poured himself deep into the slick hole, his hands blindly stroking Asra’s chest and jaw.

Asra slumped forward, unaware or uncaring of the mess between them. Their mouths slapped together in gluttonous kisses, loud and sloppy and laced with exhausted, hungry moans. Nilam wrapped his arms tight around Asra and trailed his fingertips along the sweet curves of his back, his soft, soft golden skin. Asra cupped Nilam’s face so he only could kiss him, threading his fingers into the long, soft curls behind his ears.

He ached. His legs ached from riding, this throat from screaming, his ass from the cock that was still buried deep inside - but somehow he still ached for _more_.

So gingerly, he rocked just a little and whimpered at the cascade of searing sparks it released. Nilam seized with a pained groan.

“Is it… Uuuuughh… Is it too much?” Asra gasped.

“It’s okay.” He sounded like there was a hand around his throat. “ _Uuuuhnnnn, Asra…_ ”

The pair rolled on their sides and clung desperately to each other, twitching and whimpering at each light thrust or tiny roll of a hip. They mouthed at each other’s salty skin and whispered lovelorn nonsense into each other’s burning ears.

There was a dull swelling sensation in his gut and Asra knew this was his last shot. “Nilam, Nilam baby, I’m gonna cum,” he whined into his lover’s neck, “I’m so close. Cum with me. _Cum with me Nilam!_ ”

A few more weak ruts, and they both came for the final time. They lie limply amidst rumpled sheets and chase shaking breaths as they cradle each other. 

He’s mostly soft by the time Nilam musters the energy to slowly disengage from Asra, grimacing at the jolt of not-quite pain. Asra wined at the movement, but hummed in contentment and nestled into Nilam’s neck. Under the reek of sweat and sex, he could only just make out the sandalwood perfume oil he usually put there. The combination might be Asra’s favorite scent of all.

His head felt like it was full of bees; the fat, lazy, fluffy kind he would often find dozing in the artichoke blooms. Soft pecks ruffled the lustrous curls on his head and he peppered similar ones along the pulsing skin beneath his lips. He murmured in time with Nilam’s heartbeat, but only the gods knew whether his noises were actually words.

A hand came to Asra’s chin and tilted it up to meet Nilam in another kiss - sweet, slow, finally sated. 

“I love you,” he whispered as they finally, _finally_ drifted off once again in each other’s arms.

* * *

Nilam’s consciousness blurred back into the waking world to the sound of dull murmuring and a tickling on his chest. Keeping his eyes shut against the morning glow, his curious hand sought out the source of the tickling. Other fingers intertwined with his and a delicate kiss was laid on his collarbone.

“G’morning my love,” Asra mumbled into his skin, “Di'ja sleep good?”

“Mmm-hmm…” Nilam hummed and flexed the arm wrapped around Asra, wrapped around him. “You?”

Asra sighed and nuzzled him. “‘Aven’t slept that good in a while. Always sleep better with you.” Nilam cracked an eye open and peeked at Asra, with his head on Nilam’s shoulder and a leg thrown over his hips, truly seeming to glow in a beam of late-morning sun. Asra smiled up at him. “Hey there, Sunshine.”

“Hey there yourself.” He pressed their lips together in a lazy, dozy kiss, smoothing a palm up Asra’s tacky skin. “Think a nice bath migh’ be in order.”

“Mmm… You might be right.” Asra dotted kisses up his jaw. “I bet we absolutely _stink_ of all that fantastic sex we had…” He nipped at Nilam’s ear.

He groaned and pulled back with a sweet peck. “As much as I’d love to pick up where we left off, I… ahem…” He cast Asra a sheepish grin. “You worked me pretty hard, if you get my drift.”

Asra teased, “Somebody a little sore?” His pale cheeks pinkened, but the smile never faltered. Asra shifted and sucked in a breath at the deep ache. “Me too. I’ll feel what you did for _days_.”

There was a low rumble in Nilam’s chest. “Gods, you really can be a little freak sometimes, can’t you?”

“Don’t pretend you don’t like it.”

“Wouldn’t dream of denying it.” He gave Asra’s naked butt a playful squeeze. “Just wish I had the stamina to indulge you more.” 

“I think I know just the thing to help with that.” With one last kiss to the tip of Nilam’s pretty nose, Asra slipped out of bed and wandered off towards the kitchen. “Just wait there, Loveling.”

“You’re not gonna put something on?”

“Are you saying you _don’t_ wanna stare at my ass?” Asra lifted a cheek pointedly.

“Hey, don’t put words in my mouth.”

“That’s what I thought.” He rounded the corner, plucked his favorite apron off the hook, and got to work frying up diced potatoes and herbed chicken sausage. He set a kettle on the stove to boil and prepared two tea mugs and a large plate for their breakfast. 

“That smells delicious, sweetheart.” Nilam crooned and nestled into a heap of pillows to catch flashes of bare golden flesh peeking out of the kitchen. If he had the energy for it, he would’ve loved to stalk across the room and grind into that gorgeous ass, but alas, that would have to wait for another time. Definitely an idea to remember.

Soon Asra returned with a hearty breakfast. He set the tray on the bedside table and made a show of stripping off his apron and rejoining Nilam on the bed. He speared a forkful of meat and potatoes and held it in front of his lover. “Say ‘Aah.’” Nilam happily gobbled up everything he was offered. Only once a full third of the plate was empty did Asra let Nilam feed him his share, and he continued to sneak more bites of food into his precious idiot.

Nilam hummed, his eyes lightly shut. “This is nice.”

“Isn’t it?” Another idea popped into his head, and hey, the last one was a roaring success, so what’s one more? “Well lucky for you, you’ll be taking the whole week off to do even more of this.”

Nilam opened his eyes and raised a brow. “Oh will I?”

Asra nodded. “Mm-hmm. You’re to laze around in bed, be fed platefuls of yummy food - Maybe have some more mindblowing sex if the mood strikes…”

Nilam laughed and stroked Asra’s hip. “Asra, I can’t just-”

He pressed a finger to Nilam’s lips. “Shush. Doctor’s orders.”

“You’re not a doctor, hon.”

“I will make Julian sign a doctor’s note at knifepoint if need be. You’re taking a health week, and you’re going to live like an utter hedonist the entire time, you hear me?”

Nilam sighed and slumped against the pillows, though there was still a smile staining his face. “I guess I don’t have much of a choice, do I?”

“Not really. Besides, didn’t you learn anything last night? Surely you know how _persuasive_ I can be.” That noise in his chest indicated he definitely did. “If you’re _really_ determined, I _suppose_ it’d be alright if you worked half-days just doing shop chores.” Asra nuzzled Nilam’s neck. “I remember how much you used to enjoy making your medicines.”

Nilam traced circles and swirls into Asra’s ribs with a thoughtful rumble. “Maybe it _would_ be nice to get back to my roots a bit.” 

Finally in agreement, they snuggled together in companionable quiet, listening to the growing bustle outside as the day aged. Golden rays of sunlight spilled through the multicolored window - still sweat-streaked and utterly _filthy_ , Nilam realized with a grin - staining a few sparkling beams violet, blue, and vermillion as they crept across the bed. He traced the diamonds cast on Asra’s skin as he dozed. 

“I think it might be time for that bath,” Nilam gently mumbled and Asra stretched out of his catnap.

“I think you might be right.” They tumbled out of bed and Asra tugged Nilam along to the bathroom. “You in the mood for bubbles?”

**Author's Note:**

> Positive and/or constructive comments are always welcome and appreciated, and if there are any tags you feel I should add, or if there's anything in particular you liked/disliked, feel free to leave a comment in that box down yonder.


End file.
